UAE law firm Al Tamimi & Company recorded stronger growth at its non-UAE offices in the last 12 months than on home turf, driven by recent expansion in fast-growing markets, its founder told Arabian Business.
Essam Al Tamimi said his firm had seen 18 percent growth in its non-UAE offices year-on-year since 2016.
This “marked increase in revenues” compared to “modest growth” overall in the UAE-based firm over the period, he added.
Declining to reveal full figures as the company is private, Al Tamimi said the growth in non-UAE revenues was driven primarily by the firm’s new offices in Bahrain, Oman and Egypt – the latter of which opened within the last two years.
He told Arabian Business: “We are very pleased with the growth we have seen across the firm over the last 12 months. In particular, we are delighted with the performance of our international offices, where our expansion into new jurisdictions over the last few years, notably Egypt, Bahrain and Oman, has really paid off.
“We have also seen an uptick in business in Iraq, which I would attribute to the improvement in the political climate there. Finally, we are seeing really strong growth in Saudi Arabia.
“Riyadh has always been one of our solid performers but we now also have a well-established offering in Jeddah and Al Khobar. For Saudi Arabia, it is really important for clients to have local support and we are able to offer this in each of these key cities.”
Al Tamimi added that, in the UAE, growth had been driven by three particular sectors: banking and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) – a traditionally strong sector that has remained robust; financial crime, in line with increasing global regulation to fight money laundering and other types of fraud and fincrime, and family business disputes and restructuring – which at Al Tamimi & Company has grown by 40 percent in the last 18 months, its founder said.
“In the UAE, growth has been more modest, which reflects the fact that this is a much more mature market for us,” Al Tamimi said.
“Nevertheless, we are seeing good growth from some of our specialist groups, such as financial crime, and from our sector-focussed groups, particularly healthcare and education.”
Read the full interview with Essam Al Tamimi in Arabian Business this week
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